Northeast Assembly Thread

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

I, Antonio V, solemnly swear...

Well, what should I swear ?

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

I, Antonio V, solemnly swear...

Well, what should I swear ?

To do a damn fine job?

Ok, let's go !


Is the session officially opened, Mister Lt Gov ?

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Is the session officially opened, Mister Lt Gov ?

I think we should adress Lt. Governor "Mr. President", as he's a presiding officer of the assembly, but it's just a protoloc

Right.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Well as your first order of business you should probably establish legislative rules such as leadership in the chamber, just as we did in the First Mideast Assembly.

I think they are expressed clearly enough on the Amendment : First we discuss, then we vote. Lt Governor is the President of the Assembly and votes only to break a tie.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Just a friendly reminder to the Assembly. Elections will be coming up next month, I know this just started, but all of those who are interested in staying past next month should make sure to declare.

Well, we have until Friday 9, right ?

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Absolute majority is better.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Well, this is good.
I think we can immediately start voting, to rapidly have our speaker.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Plularity

??

Plurality is unfair.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

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Aye

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

(just remember I have my part in this bill too )

Sorry, I just wanted it to go faster.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

(just remember I have my part in this bill too )

Sorry, I just wanted it to go faster.

And good, because we need to fully organize

This proceeding is perfectly legal. We don't need voting booths and stuff.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

3/5 votes : this will officially pas as soon as Mr President will certify results.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

The Question before us is: "Shall Smid be made Speaker of this Assembly?"
Please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain. Voting lasts twenty-four hours.

Aye

Btw, has the speaker the right to certify results in the place of Lt Gov ?

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

That seems good. Is someone going to write it ?

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

That seems good. Is someone going to write it ?

I'll draft something when I get a chance, hopefully later today.

Great.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Here's my first draft:

Standing Order on Assembly Procedure

1. Proposed Legislation Thread
(a) The Lt. Governor shall open a new Northeast Assembly proposed legislation thread at the start of each Northeast Assembly term.
(b) Representatives shall post the full text of any proposed legislation in a response to the Northeast Assembly proposed legislation thread for the current term.  Each response shall contain only one piece of proposed legislation. 
(c) Nothing shall be posted to the Northeast Assembly proposed legislation thread except proposed legislation.

2. Movement of Legislation to the Northeast Assembly Floor
(a) Except as provided in subsection (c), the Lt. Governor shall introduce legislation from the Northeast Assembly proposed legislation thread on the Northeast Assembly floor in chronological order, starting with the earliest piece of proposed legislation, except that the Lt. Governor shall not introduce more than two (2) pieces of legislation from the same Representative before introducing legislation from other Representatives that has been proposed before the date such third piece of proposed legislation would have otherwise been brought to the Northeast Assembly floor.
(b) Only one piece of legislation shall be placed on the Northeast Assembly floor at a time.
(c)  Any Representative may make a motion to suspend section 2(a) of this Standing Order to move a piece proposed legislation to the top of the queue.  The motion shall be immediately put to a vote on the Northeast Assembly floor.  Such vote shall be open for 24 hours.  If the motion passes by a vote of the majority of all Representatives (with abstentions and absences counted as nay votes), the Lt. Governor shall move such piece of proposed legislation to the Northeast Assembly floor immediately after any legislation then currently on the Northeast Assembly floor is voted upon or tabled.

3. Legislative Debates and Voting
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (h), all proposed legislation shall be open for debate until seventy-two (72) hours after the Lt. Governor introduces it to the Northeast Assembly floor.
(b) During debate, Representatives may suggest amendments to proposed legislation.  If the sponsor of the proposed legislation publicly deems the amendment friendly, no vote on the amendment shall be required.  If the sponsor of the proposed legislation does not publicly deem the amendment friendly, a vote on the amendment shall be taken at the end of the debate period.
(c) The sponsor of a proposed amendment may remove it from the Assembly floor by tabling it at any time before the end of the debate period.
(d) A vote will be held on all proposed amendments not deemed friendly at the end of the debate period.  Such vote shall be open for twenty-four (24) hours.  An amendment shall pass  if a majority of Representatives vote in favor of it (with abstentions and absences not counted as votes).
(e)  The sponsor of a piece of proposed legislation may remove it from the Assembly floor by tabling it at any time before a final vote is taken on the proposed legislation.
(f) A final vote the proposed legislation shall take place immediately after the Lt. Governor certifies the vote on any proposed amendments (or, if there are no such amendments, at the end of the debate period).  Such vote shall be open for twenty-four (24) hours.  A piece of proposed legislation shall pass if a majority of Representatives vote in favor of it (with abstentions and absences not counted as votes).
(g) The Lt. Governor shall certify the results of any vote within twenty-four (24) hours of the end of the voting period.
(h) Any Representative may make a motion to suspend sections 3(a), 3(d) or 3(f) of this Standing Order to increase or decrease the time of the debate or voting period.  The motion shall be immediately put to a vote on the Northeast Assembly floor.  Such vote shall be open for 24 hours.  If the motion passes by a vote of the majority of all Representatives (with abstentions and absences counted as nay votes), the relevant period shall be changed.

4. Terminology
(a) All legislation regarding the rules of the Northeast Assembly shall be called Standing Orders.
(b) All proposed legislation that requires the signature of the Governor shall be called a Bill until signed and thereafter an Act.
(c) The Lt. Governor shall maintain a public list of Standing Orders, unsuccessful bills actually voted upon, and Acts in the Atlasia Wiki for the Northeast, with a link to the text of such legislation.

Why should the Lieutenant Governor be the only one to officially introduce pieces of legislation ? This should be done by any representative whenever he wants.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Why should the Lieutenant Governor be the only one to officially introduce pieces of legislation ? This should be done by any representative whenever he wants.

Under Section 15 of the Constitutional Amendment creating this Assembly, the Lt. Governor runs the Assembly floor.  Therefore, he should move legislation from the proposed legislation thread to the Assembly floor.   

That's all I meant by introduces, though it might not be the right term.  The person who initially sponsors a bill in the proposed legislation thread would have all say on amendments and the like, not the Lt. Governor.

Well, I think I know this Amendment, since I wrote most of it.
What I meant is just that LG certifies the vote results, just as did the CJO previously. I understand you point, but you should replace the verb "introduce" by something different, to make clear that Lt Gov hasn't any "right of veto" on this (I obviously don't fear anything from Barnes but yu never know).

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Cinyc - exceptionally well done on these Standing Orders! Sensational work!

How about "invites the sponsor to move or moves if the sponsor is a concerned citizen or the Governor" rather than "introduces"? That leaves the Lt Gov in charge of ordering the introduction of Bills to the House, but leaves him/her bound by the SOAP - preventing them from potentially vetoing a Bill by refusing to introduce it?

We could just write that someone who introduces a bill shall do it in both the threads immediately. Could it work ?

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Cinyc - exceptionally well done on these Standing Orders! Sensational work!

How about "invites the sponsor to move or moves if the sponsor is a concerned citizen or the Governor" rather than "introduces"? That leaves the Lt Gov in charge of ordering the introduction of Bills to the House, but leaves him/her bound by the SOAP - preventing them from potentially vetoing a Bill by refusing to introduce it?

We could just write that someone who introduces a bill shall do it in both the threads immediately. Could it work ?

No. We don't want to clutter the floor too much.

Any Rep has the right to introduce bills. This right should be fully guaranteed.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

Cinyc - exceptionally well done on these Standing Orders! Sensational work!

How about "invites the sponsor to move or moves if the sponsor is a concerned citizen or the Governor" rather than "introduces"? That leaves the Lt Gov in charge of ordering the introduction of Bills to the House, but leaves him/her bound by the SOAP - preventing them from potentially vetoing a Bill by refusing to introduce it?

We could just write that someone who introduces a bill shall do it in both the threads immediately. Could it work ?

I don't think we should have tons of legislation on the floor at the same time, which may happen if we let Representatives just propose legislation in both threads.  Having more than one bill open for discussion would clutter up the Assembly thread and make things confusing.    Unlike the Atlasian Senate, we have only one Assembly thread to conduct all floor business.   The nature of the Atlas Fantasy Elections sub-board doesn't lend itself to a regional legislature having more than one or two threads - things would get lost to the second or third page of the sub-board if Representatives don't comment on it for a day or so.

I'd prefer that the President of the Senate (i.e. the Lt. Governor unless designated to the Speaker) move items from the proposed legislation thread on the Assembly floor whenever a bill is passed or tabled.  This is similar to what the President Pro Tempore does in the Senate - which seems to work fine there.  We can make sure the Lt. Governor has no discretion over which items to place on the floor by using a proper phrasing like "place on the Northeast Assembly floor" or "place on the Northeast Assembly floor on behalf (and stating the name) of the sponsor", and specifying the order in which items must be placed on the floor (which Section 2 of my proposed bill already does).  Or perhaps by just adding a sentence stating that the Lt. Governor has no power to change the order in which items are placed on the floor.

Seems good.

Why have a second thread? If legislation is proposed the Speaker of President can place it on a queue with links that can be reposted intermittently with the pending order of business. That way things are kept orderly, but you don't clog the entire board. Between the Mideast and Northeast legislatures, along with member offices, you are looking at 11 threads! No reason to add another.

The reason for a separate proposed legislation thread is so that everyone knows where to find all proposed NE legislation and can easily figure out what should be up next should the Lt. Governor/Speaker try to play games with the agenda.  Links are only as good as the person who maintains them, and proposing legislation in the NE Assembly floor thread would clutter this thread and could lead to confusion as to which bill is actually being debated at any given time.

We're not asking for much.

Just making sure you realize that 3 ME assemblymen threads + ME Assembly + NE Assembly + NE Assembly Legislation + 6 NE assemblymen = 12 threads. The first page of this board can hold thirteen non-stickied threads.

Well, 12 or 13 doesn't change so much.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

I think my Third Draft of the SOAP is complete enough to be put to a vote should the Speaker deem it possible at this time.

The two main changes from the second draft were to change "introduce" to "place" and add a section allowing Representatives to make a motion to place more than one piece of proposed legislation on the Senate floor at any given time.  I've also added a subsection making it clear that the only power the Lt. Governor has is to place items on the floor.

Seems great. I would like to congratulate you for your work.


Aye

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

We got it.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

When do my colleagues wish to begin debating "real" legislation?

In absence of a legislation introduction thread, I'll post this here.

Bipartisan Safe Sex Education Bill

Section A: Exemptions

1.   This act only applies to public high schools (grades 9/10-12)
2.   This act does not apply to schools with less than 400 enrolled students.
3.   This requirements included in this act take effect starting with the class of 2015.

Section B: Safe Sex Education Requirements

1.   Completion of at least one semester of sexual health is required for all high school students in order to graduate.
2.   The course must teach about methods of contraception, including condoms and birth-control pills, as well as proper usage of said methods.
3.   The course must teach that abstinence is the safest way to avoid venereal diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
4.   The course must teach sexual anatomy, including the functions of male and female reproductive organs.
5.   The course must teach the common indicators of breast cancer and prostate cancer, as well as how to check the body for irregularities that are common indicators.

Section C: Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention Education Requirements

1.   The course must teach how HIV/AIDS is contracted, the effects of HIV/AIDS, and how to best avoid HIV/AIDS.
2.   The course must also cover herpes, chlamydia, syphilis, hepatitis, and human papilloma virus (HPV).
3.   The course must provide a list of local clinics that provide testing for STDs.

Section D: Pregnancy Education Requirements

1.   The course must teach the developmental process of the pregnancy, including zygotes, embryos, and fetuses.
2.   The course must teach that adoption and abortion are both options for unwanted pregnancies.
3.   The course must provide a list of pregnancy help clinics that provide counseling and information regarding how to handle being pregnant.
4.   All women under the age of 18 seeking the termination of a pregnancy are required to attend a 90 minute counseling session that covers the actual procedure, the risk involved, how to handle an abortion and maintain mental and physical health, and alternative options to abortion such as adoption.

Section E: Privacy Requirements

1.   The course must respect the students’ right to privacy.
2.   Students must NOT be pressured into answering questions they are uncomfortable with.
3.   Teachers are expected and required not to reveal any private details from private conversations related to the course material.

Section F: Clarification

1.     This act replaces all existing overlapping policy in the Northeast region as soon as it takes effect.

Sponsors: Rep. Hamilton and Rep. Kalwejt

This is great. I approve it at 100%.


Btw, we need Mr resident's notification to make the SOAP officially pass.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

I can't support this bill without a right for parents with religious objections to opt out of all or a portion of this class.  Not every family with strong religious convictions can afford to send their children to private schools.  They should not be punished by having their children forced to sit through classes that teach methods of birth control other than abstinence.

Anyone has the right to keep their opinion and beliefs, but anyone should be given the information to make their choice. Parents haven't the right to keep their children in ignocance for religious reasons.

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Well, he didn't certify the results anyways.

[God-Empress Stacey I of House Abrams]

I move to amend the bill as follows (even though it will be viewed as unfriendly and be put to a vote):

Freedom of Conscience Amendment

Section B(1) shall be amended as follows:
1.  Except as provided in subsection B(6), completion of at least one semester of sexual health is required for all high school students in order to graduate.

A new Section B(6) shall be added:
6.  Before the beginning of the relevant semester, every school shall send a permission slip to parents or guardians of children who would otherwise be enrolled in sexual health class.  A parent or guardian shall be entitled to remove their child from all or any portion of a sexual health class, specifically including any portion of that class teaching methods of contraception, masturbation or homosexuality.   No school shall take any action against a student whose parent opts out of enrolling their child in all or any portion of a sexual health class, nor shall that student's grade, grade-point average, or ability to graduate be affected.

I know that this amendment will not have enough support to pass but go ahead and vote.

Such amendment would kill the entire idea of the bill

Precisely. I will never support this because it makes no sense.